Garment workers demonstrating, for improved working conditions, encounter resistance in Eastern U.S. cities

Location:
United States USA Date:1913Duration:1 min 27 secSound:Yes

Clothing workers in a factory in the United States. Street scene in garment district of Manhattan, New York City, in 1912. Garment workers, and supporters of their labor rights quest for better pay and shorter hours, pose for a photograph. Workers display many signs expressing their needs, in English, Italian, Russian, Hebrew and other languages. Garment workers, of various specialties, gather in demonstration for better treatment. Employees of the Alfred Benjamins Company refute management's claim that they are satisfied with working conditions. They display a large sign on the sidewalk. Four-sided box signs are also seen (written in Italian and Hebrew). Mounted police move along a street as a foot patrolman arrests a protester. Photograph of lawyer, Fiorello LaGuardia. Garment workers at work in a sweat shop. A large group of young women garment workers marching in a labor rally or demonstration during a strike. Two signs are seen, one reading: "Why are we prohibited from picketing?" and the other, partly hidden, explains why they are striking. A contingent of uniformed policemen with night sticks, stand in front of a building in Baltimore. Smiling women stand carrying signs. One reads: "Our employers are powerful (because) they are organized.We shall be more powerful." Another reads,"We shall fight until we win." Many other signs express similar sentiments. Portrait photograph of 17 year old Ida Brayman, with caption reading: "Who was shot & killed by an Employer Feb. 5th 1913 during the great struggle of the Garment Workers of Rochester (New York)."